Unpacking the Evangelical Bro Code, Part 1: Churches Aren't Paying Women for Their Work

Women told me about unequal pay compared with male colleagues, who had 'families to support.'

Image: Stocksy

Last fall I wrote about the “evangelical bro code,” a term for the ways women leaders are edged out of many evangelical institutions (churches, nonprofits, colleges and seminaries). In these spaces, I wrote,

. . . women leaders are collateral for missional expediency and workplace culture and norms. At the end of the day, because of unspoken yet persistent beliefs about male spiritual authority and women’s circumscribed roles, it’s just easier for evangelical institutions to hire and retain men, specifically men who think and act like other top leaders.

I wrote the piece to connect the dots between stories I was hearing from friends and peers. Surely the similarities between their stories — about being scolded or ignored by male colleagues; about orthodoxy monitoring, modesty monitoring, and so on — spoke to systemic issues in evangelical institutions.

Then the piece blew up. Many women, across generations, backgrounds, and professions, said in effect, “Yes. This happened…